Promoting an Undergraduate Research Culture

As colleges look to promote closer connections between professors and students, to expose students to the excitement of intellectual discovery, and to enhance student learning, many institutions are creating undergraduate research programs.

On Wednesday, December 12, at 2 p.m. Eastern, Kerry Karukstis, a professor of chemistry at Harvey Mudd College and president of the Council on Undergraduate Research, will discuss how colleges can create or sustain such programs. Her presentation will include ideas on:

• How colleges should devise undergraduate research programs consistent with their missions.
• How to build from a core group of interested faculty members to sustain the program.
• How the curriculum can support undergraduate research efforts.
• The importance of celebrating successes and milestones in these programs.
• How to assess the impact of research programs and to use the results to improve them.

This audioconference is designed for colleges that are considering the creation of undergraduate research programs and those seeking to expand existing programs. The conference is ideal for:

• Provosts and deans.
• Academic affairs officers.
• Research officers.
• Faculty members.

Kerry Karukstis will make a 30-minute presentation, which will be followed by a session in which she'll answer questions posed by participants. The entire event will last one hour.

The "Promoting an Undergraduate Research Culture" audio conference costs $175 for a single telephone line; listen yourself or with a group around a conference table. Register early -- through Friday, November 30 -- and the cost is only $125. Upon registering, you'll be e-mailed information about how to dial in. A day before the conference, we'll send you a PowerPoint that you can use to follow along with Kerry Karukstis’s presentation. This is an audio-only conference; you will not need to be connected to the Internet to participate.

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About the presenter:

Kerry Karukstis is a professor of chemistry at Harvey Mudd College and president of the Council on Undergraduate Research.

Karukstis has an active laboratory – and one that always includes undergraduates. Her students regularly present results of their research at meetings of the American Chemical Society. She has co-authored more than 70 papers and two books, Lasers in Chemistry and Chemistry Connections: The Chemistry of Everyday Phenomena. Karukstis has served as chemistry councilor for the Council on Undergraduate Research since 1993, has served on the advisory panel for the Beckman Scholars Program of the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Research Foundation, serves on the advisory board of the National Science Foundation-sponsored Center for Workshops in the Chemical Sciences, chaired the Harvey Mudd Curriculum Committee (2001-2004), and currently chairs the Harvey Mudd Assessment Committee. She received the 2003 Henry T. Mudd Prize for outstanding service to Harvey Mudd College and the Council on Undergraduate Research Volunteer of the Year Award in 2004.

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